In the first Women's Hockey gold medal game in Olympic History the United States beat Canada; four years later Canada won the rematch. So it is not surprising that "Winning Women in Ice Hockey" looks at a pair of star athletes from each of these two countries: U.S. team captain Cammi Granato, Canadian goalie Manon Rheaume, U.S. goalie Erin Whitten, and Canadaian forward Hayley Wickenheiser. However, this volume also serves as an introduction to the sport of ice hockey, covering its history, development, rules, and the role that women are now playing in this once "boys-only" sport. Marlene Targ Brill's book is clearly intended for young girls who have watched these women compete in the Olympics in Salt Lake City. If they have any interest in playing on the ice, then this book will surely heighten their interest. Trill not only covers the accomplishment of this quartet of players on the ice, but goes into the odds they had to overcome to achieve success on various stages from college to the Olympics. Of course, up here in the Northland we are celebrating a second consecutive NCAA Frozen Four championship for the Lady Bulldogs, so we know a bit about hockey as played by women. "Winning Women in Ice Hockey" takes both the sport and the women who play it seriously. For more about Cammi Granato I would recommend a superb sports biography by Thom Loverro, "Cammi Granato: Hockey Pioneer."

This was a great book with biographies of four great womens icehockey players and their road to success. It also gives a history ofthe game at the beggining of the book. My favorite part was the players advice at the end of their biography.

When it comes to the history of Washington, D.C. I know it was designed by a Frenchman, the English burned the White House (which was beige and known as the President's Mansion) during the War of 1812, and the Japanese gave a whole bunch of cherry trees at some point in history. Marlene Targ Brill's "Building the Capital City" provides considerably more detail about the creation and evolution of Washington, D.C. than you will ever find in an American History textbook. Young readers will find out what happened to the grandiose design of Pierre Charles L'Enfant and how the various pieces of the Capital City we know today fell into place. An aerial shot at the front of the book shows the Capitol, sitting atop Jenkins Hill, the highest spot in the district, with the White House at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, with the Mall stretching down to the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. Brill goes into detail on how and why this particular square parcel of land was selected by George Washington to be the site of the American capital. The various periods and projects of construction (and restoration) are covered. We even learn why the place is considered a "suitcase city." "Building the Capital City" is illustrated with contemporary and historic drawings and photographs, including William Thorton's winning design for the Capitol with a low dome atop the midsection. Of course the cover photograph shows the building of the Capitol dome during the Civil War. Brill provides an informative little book that will give teachers and students alike some interesting facts about one of the few cities on earth built expressly to serve as a seat of government. Related volumes in the Cornerstones of Freedom series look at the White House, the Capitol, and the Vietnam Veterans and Vietnam Women's Memorials.

This series is so informative, appropriate for youth and adults alike ! I knew nothing about the country when I first read this book and now feel I have a good general overview . Well written and entertaining it describes the people , history , geography and social system of this beautiful country . Well worth the money , buy this one !

Targ and Targ Brill have done a great job in bringing the essence of the country to the pages. Their obviously encyclopedic knowledge of Honduras is conveyed in clear, living pictures that have great appeal regardless of the reader's age. This is a "Don't Miss" book about an obviously "Don't Miss" country.

Marlene Targ Brill's juvenile biography of President James Buchanan ends the commentary of Northern newspapers after his death in 1868. Springfield newspapers declared "there was nothing interesting about him" and that he would be remembered as the "president who was willing to concede everything, before he would fight, and then he wouldn't." As the president who served on the eve of the Civil War and was replaced in the White House by Abraham Lincoln, Buchanan is a figure of no small historical interest, but little historical study. Brill likes to begin her political biographies in media res, so this book begins with the fact Buchanan was the first President to be investigated by the House of Representatives for possible impeachment. At the end of her first chapter, Brill provides the verdict of the times on Buchanan: "critics from all sides saw him as a weak, outdated old man who was bungling his presidency."

Trill relates how Buchanan came to be the wrong man at the wrong time to occupy the White House. She traces his educational training and his political career, which saw him go from member of Congress to Andrew Jackson's Minister to Russia. From there he served in the U.S. Senate and as James Polk's Secretary of State. Trill does a nice job of showing why Buchanan was elected President in 1856. Although he opposed slavery on personal grounds, Buchanan held the Constitution protected the institution. While John Brown was killing people in the west and Rep. Preston Brooks was beating Sen. Charles Sumner senseless with a cane on the floor of Congress for an antislavery attack, Buchanan was one of the few politicians who had not gotten involved in the public debate. At the time he was considered a wise statesman who would maintain the peace. However, today most historians consider the Civil War to have been inevitable and Buchanan was caught up in forces beyond any man's control.

This is not a slick looking book but it does provide more than adequate coverage of the life of its subject, which is supposed to be its purpose. There are certainly better looking juvenile biographies of Buchanan, but they do not provide the amount of information Brill presents here, which would be the chief reason for picking this book. Illustrated with dozens of black and white illustrations, mostly engravings and illustrations from Buchanan's lifetime, as well as maps, pamphlets and early photographs, "James Buchanan" contains a detailed Chronology of American History that lists virtually ever year from the birth of Washington in 1732 to the crash of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, when this book was published. In terms of the amount of information provided, the Encyclopedia of Presidents is the best series I have come across to date. For younger students I would recommend the book on Buchanan by Gerry and Janet Souter for the Our Presidents series.

John Adams, Second President of these United States, is certainly enjoying a revitalized reputation thanks to David McCullough's best-selling biography. But for younger students who are not yet ready to tackle that weighty tome, Marlene Targ Brill provides a solid introduction to the man for this volume in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series. The story begins with what Adams considered to be his most important accomplishment as President, which was keeping the young nation from going to war with France. But Brill establishes right from the start that this patriotic man was frequently an unpopular public figure. At the start, Brill offers the verdict of history on John Adams as pronounced by Benjamin Franklin, who said Adams "means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes and in some things absolutely out of his senses."

This book covers the boyhood of John Adams in Braintree, Massachusetts, his education at Harvard, his career as a lawyer, his marriage to Abigail Smith, and his involvement in the movement for American independence. After the Declaration of Independence was adopted, Adams planned on retiring from politics, his life's work accomplished, but his nation was not even close to being done with him. After a decade of work in the Foreign Service, Adams was elected to two terms as the country's first Vice President (a New Englander to balance Southerner George Washington), and then faced the unenviable task of being the person who followed Washington as President and was then in turn replaced by Thomas Jefferson. In perhaps the greatest irony in American history, both Adams and Jefferson would die on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

I have always admired Adams ever since I became enamored of the musical "1776" and enjoyed "The Adams Chronicles" mini-series. This is not a slick looking book but it does provide more than adequate coverage of the life of its subject, which is supposed to be its purpose. There are better looking juvenile biographies of Adams, but they do not provide the amount of information Brill presents here. This volume is illustrated with dozens of black and white illustrations, mostly engravings and illustrations from Adams's lifetime, as well as maps, pamphlets and signatures. The book contains a detailed Chronology of American History that lists virtually ever year from the birth of Washington in 1732 to the crash of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, when this book was published.

The concept of the Underground Railroad is difficult for most children to grasp, and they first think it is similar to the subway. I used this book with elementary students in a small rural school in North Carolina where there are very few minority students; they loved it. For the first time they were able to understand the horrors of slavery and what the slaves and "conductors" alike risked for freedom in the North. The author does an excellent job of making this dark and complex chapter in our history understandable the students. The wanted to read it again and again.

Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad is the retelling of a man's recollections of his first experience helping an escaped slave. The book brings the underground railroad down to the level primary students can comprehend. This book makes for wonderful discussions regarding overcoming one's fears, going against the norm and doing what you believe to be morally correct. The story is very idealistic. The dark side of the time period is not dealt with in any depth. This makes the book excellent for young readers who are just getting their feet wet on the issue of slavery.

Extraodinary Young People is about... just that. It mentions the classical greats such as Helen Keller, to todays greats such as Tiger Woods. It mentions what makes each one unique, and discloses the hidden struggles each individual has to deal with throughout their lives to reach where they did.

is offered in this book. You will find guidance on many important issues. This book will get you started, but you may need to gather more detailed information of importance to you, from other sources. Easy to understand and read. The facts presented are definitely pertinent and necessary to know.

I bought both this book, and one with a similar title by Selby Beeler, figuring I'd get one right. This book was not the one. Brill focuses on witchcraft and other oddities related to losing one's teeth, but does not actually go into the various traditions around the world (as I expected from the title).

The other book ("Throw your tooth on the roof"), was great! It had short descriptions of tooth traditions from a variety of countries, and was written in a way that my son could read along, learn about the various traditions, and more importantly, learn about different nationalities and proper tooth care.

Brill's book was not written in a read-along style and my son was not a big fan of the dark illustrations, even though they were beautifully drawn.

If I had it to do over again, I'd skip this book and only buy the other one.

I found this book fun to read because it gave a nonfiction history of the tooth fairy that also included many tooth traditions. I disagree that this book was not a narrative. Quite the reverse, TOOTH TALES had a running story line while the other tooth book mentioned provided a single caption per picture per site around the world. These are two different books that offer two different versions of tooth tradition. I do agree that the title TOOTH TALES FROM AROUND THE WORLD is misleading, but I didn't find this book to be about witchcraft, which seems to be the other reviewers realk concern.